Catholic Church in Equatorial Guinea

The Roman Catholic Church in Equatorial Guinea is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.

Equatorial Guinea has one of the highest proportions of Roman Catholics in Africa, a legacy of its status as a former Spanish colony. There are three dioceses, including one archdiocese.

In 2005, about 422,000 (87%) of the 485,000 inhabitants of Equatorial Guinea were member of the Roman Catholic Church. Equatorial Guinea consists of a single church province, Malabo, with two suffragan dioceses in Bata and Ebebiyin. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Malabo had the Archbishop of Malabo as spiritual leadership, metropolitan archbishop and head of the ecclesiastical province of Equatorial Guinea. Current Archbishop of Malabo is Ildefonso Obama Obono.

The bishops are members of the Episcopal Conference of Equatorial Guinea (Conferencia Episcopal de Guinea Ecuatorial). President of the Episcopal Conference is Ildefonso Obama Obono, archbishop of Malabo. Furthermore, it is a member of the Association des Conferences Episcopales de l'Afrique Centrale and the Symposium of the Conferences Episcoaples d'Afrique et Madagascar.

The Apostolic Nuncio to Equatorial Guinea since January 25, 2010 is Archbishop Piero Pioppo.

Archdiocese

• Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Malabo

Dioceses

• Roman Catholic Diocese of Bata
• Roman Catholic Diocese of Ebebiyin

Nuncios

Apostolic Pro-Nuncio

• Archbishop Luigi Poggi (31 October 1966 - 21 May 1969 later Cardinal)
• Archbishop Ernesto Gallina (July 16, 1969 - March 13, 1971)
• Archbishop Jean Jadot (15 May 1971 - 23 May 1973)
• Archbishop Luciano Storero (30 June 1973 - 14 July 1976)
• Archbishop Giuseppe Uhac (October 7, 1976 - June 3, 1981)
• Archbishop Donato Squicciarini (16 September 1981 - 1 July 1989)
• Archbishop Santos Abril y Castelló (2 October 1989 - 24 February 1996)

Apostolic nuncio

• Archbishop Felix del Blanco Prieto (4 May 1996 - 28 June 1996)
• Archbishop Eliseo Antonio Ariotti (17 July 2003 - 5 November 2009)
• Archbishop Piero Pioppo (since January 25, 2010)